Mobile device having human language translation capability with positional feedback

ABSTRACT

A mobile electronic device has a touch sensitive screen and an accelerometer. A translator is to translate a word or phrase that is in a first human language and that is entered via a first virtual keyboard displayed on the touch sensitive screen, into a second human language. A translator is to cause the touch sensitive screen to display the translated word or phrase and a second virtual keyboard having characters in the second human language, in response to the accelerometer detecting a change in the physical orientation of the device or movement of the device. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

An embodiment of the invention relates to mobile or portable electronicdevices having human language translation capability, Other embodimentsare also described.

BACKGROUND

A basic need for most people when traveling in a foreign country ishuman language translation. One may be riding in a taxi or about topurchase something when there is a sudden and important need totranslate a phrase or statement. For example, one may want to ask thecab driver a question about the route he is taking, or wish to ask asalesperson about alternatives to a particular item he is presentingyou. A two-way, portable, electronic language translation device is veryuseful in such circumstances. Such a device has a display and a keyboardthat allows the user to type in a word or phrase in the user's nativelanguage. The user then presses a button on the keyboard, and the wordor phrase is then translated by built-in data processing circuitry ofthe device into another language before being displayed. With thedisplay showing the translated phrase, the user may then hand the deviceto the other party who can then read the translated phrase and thenrespond using the device in a reverse manner but in her own language.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the invention provides an enhanced translationexperience using a mobile electronic device. In particular, the deviceprovides translation “feedback” to its users in response to a change inthe position or physical orientation of the device. In one embodiment,the mobile electronic device may be operated as follows. The deviceprompts a user to enter a word or phrase in a first human language,using a first soft keyboard that is associated with that language. Thesoft keyboard is displayed on a touch sensitive screen of the device.The entered word or phrase is then translated by the device into asecond human language. The translated word or phrase, as well as asecond soft keyboard (associated with the second language) is displayed,when the device rotates by at least a predetermined amount or is movedin a predetermined manner. Thus, the device provides feedback to itsusers, as to the different languages that it supports, based at least inpart on the movement, position or physical orientation of the device.

For example, if the device were to have a rectangular shape, in oneportrait orientation it may display a soft keyboard and prompt for theentry of a word or phrase in a first human language. When the device hasbeen turned upside down into its other portrait orientation, thepreviously entered word or phrase is displayed, translated. into anotherlanguage, together with the soft keyboard of the another language. Thus,one user enters a word or phrase in her language, and then turns thedevice around to an orientation associated with a second language, andhands the device over in that orientation to another user (who isconversant in the second language). At that point, the device isdisplaying the translated word or phrase, in the second language. Theother user can now enter a response in her own language, using thedisplayed second soft keyboard, and then hands the device back to thefirst user, turning it back to the original orientation. Thus, two userscan communicate with each other via different human languages, byentering their statements into the same device but in different physicalorientations, and signaling their intentions to translate simply byhanding the device back and. forth in the appropriate orientation.

The above summary does not include an exhaustive list of all aspects ofthe present invention. Indeed, it is contemplated that the inventionincludes all systems and methods that can be practiced from all suitablecombinations of the various aspects summarized above, as well as thosedisclosed in the Detailed Description below and particularly pointed outin the claims filed with the application. Such combinations haveparticular advantages not specifically recited in the above summary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example andnot by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings inwhich like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted thatreferences to an or “one” embodiment of the invention in this disclosureare not necessarily to the same embodiment, and they mean at least one.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of various hardware and software componentsof a portable multifunction device, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the portable multifunction device.

FIG. 3 shows the root or main menu of an example graphical userinterface running in the device.

FIG. 4 shows an example of how the device may be used to translatebetween two different written languages, assisted by positionalfeedback.

FIG. 5 shows an example of using the device when translating among threedifferent languages, using positional feedback.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of how the device may be operated to assist inhuman language translation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In this section several embodiments of this invention are explained withreference to the appended drawings. Whenever the shapes, relativepositions and other aspects of the parts described in the embodimentsare not clearly defined, the scope of the invention is not limited onlyto the parts shown, which are meant merely for the purpose ofillustration.

Before describing the various translation processes that can beimplemented in a portable electronic device, Part I below gives anoverview of the relevant components of the device in connection withFIGS. 1-3.

I. Overview of an Example Portable Device

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example portable multifunction device100 that has the capability for translating human language withpositional feedback. The device 100 may be a portable wirelesscommunications device such as a cellular telephone that also containsother functions such as personal digital assistant and digital media(music and/or movie) playback functions. Not all of the functionsdescribed here are needed, as the device 100 could alternatively be adedicated, handheld translator device, without having for instancecellular communications capability. The device 100 has memory 102 whichmay include random access memory, non-volatile memory such as diskstorage, flash memory, and/or other suitable digital storage. Access tothe memory 102 by other components of the device such as one or moreprocessors 120 or peripheral interface 118 may be controlled by a memorycontroller 122, The latter components may be built into the sameintegrated circuit chip 104, or they may each be part of a separateintegrated circuit package.

The peripheral interface 118 allows input and output peripherals of thedevice to communicate with the processors 120 and memory 102. In oneexample, there are one or more processors 120 that run or executevarious software programs or sets of instructions (e.g., applications)that are stored in memory 102, to perform the various functionsdescribed below, with the assistance of or through the peripherals.

The portable multifunction device 100 may have wireless communicationscapability enabled by radio frequency (RF) circuitry 108 that receivesand sends RF signals via an integrated or built-in antenna of the device100 (not shown). The RF circuitry may include RF transceivers, as wellas digital signal processing circuitry that supports cellular network orwireless local area network protocol communications. The RF circuitry108 may be used to communicate with networks such as the Internet withsuch protocols as the World Wide Web, for example. This may be achievedthrough either the cellular telephone communications network or awireless local area network, for example. Different wirelesscommunications standards may be implemented as part of the RF circuitry108, including global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanceddata GSM environment (EDGE), high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA),code division multiple access (CDMA), Bluetooth, wireless fidelity(Wi-Fi), and Wi-Max.

The device 100 in this example also includes audio circuitry 110 thatprovides an interface to acoustic transducers, such as a speaker 111 (aspeaker phone, a receiver or a headset) and a microphone 113. These formthe audio interface between a user of the device 100 and the variousapplications that may run in the device 100. The audio circuitry 110serves to translate digital audio signals produced in the device (e.g.,through operation of the processor 120 executing an audio-enabledapplication) into a format suitable for output to a speaker, andtranslates audio signals detected by the microphone 130 (e.g., when theuser is speaking into the microphone) to digital signals suitable foruse by the various applications running in the device. In someembodiments, the audio circuitry may also include a headset jack 212(see FIG. 2), which enables sound output by a headset worn by the userof the device.

The device 100 also has an I/O subsystem 106 that serves tocommunicatively couple various other peripherals in the device to theperipheral's interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may have a displaycontroller 156 that manages the low level processing of data that isdisplayed on a touch sensitive display system 112 and generated by atouch screen of the system 112. One or more input controllers 116 may beused to receive or send signals from and to other input control devices116, such as physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons,etc.), dials, slider switches, joy sticks, click wheels, and so forth.In other embodiments, the input controller 160 may enable input andoutput to other types of devices, such as a keyboard, an infrared port,a universal serial bus, USB, port, or a pointer device such as a mouse.Physical buttons may include an up/down button for volume control of thespeaker 111 and a sleep or power on/off button of the device. Incontrast to these physical peripherals, the touch sensitive displaysystem 112 (also referred to as the touch screen 112) is used toimplement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards asdescribed below.

The touch sensitive screen 112 is part of a larger input interface andoutput interface between the device 100 and its user. The displaycontroller 156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to thetouch screen 112. The latter displays visual output to the user, forexample, in the form of graphics, text, icons, video, or any combinationthereof (collectively termed “graphics” or image objects). The touchscreen 112 also has a touch sensitive surface, sensor, or set of sensorsthat accept input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact.These are aligned directly with the visual display, typically directlyabove the latter. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156,along with any associated program modules and/or instructions in memory102, detect contact, movement, and breaking of the contact on the touchsensitive surface. In addition, they convert the detected contact intointeraction with user-interface objects (e.g., soft keys, program launchicons, and web pages) whose associated or representative image objectsare being simultaneously displayed on the touch screen 112.

The touch screen 112 may include liquid crystal display technology orlight emitting polymer display technology, or other suitable displaytechnology. The touch sensing technology may be capacitive, resistive,infrared, and/or surface acoustic wave. A proximity sensor array mayalso be used to determine one or more points of contact with the touchscreen 112. The touch screen 112 may have a resolution in excess of 100dpi. The user may make contact with the touch screen 112 using anysuitable object or appendage, such as a stylist, a finger, and so forth.In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarilywith finger-based contacts and gestures, which are generally lessprecise than stylist-based input due to the larger area of contact of afinger. The device in that case translates the rough finger-based inputinto a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing theaction desired by the user.

The device 100 has a power system 162 for supplying electrical power toits various components. The power system 162 may include a powermanagement system, one or more replenishable or rechargeable powersources such as a battery or fuel cell, a replenishing system, a poweror failure detection circuit, as well as other types of circuitryincluding power conversion and other components associated with thegeneration, management and distribution of electrical power in aportable device.

The device 100 may also include an optical sensor 164, shown in FIG. 1as being communicatively coupled to the controller 158 in the I/Osubsystem 106. The optical sensor may include a charge coupled device orcomplementary metal oxide semiconductor phototransistors, for examplearranged in an array, onto which an optical image of a scene that isbefore the device is formed. Optical components are also providedincluding a lens, for example, that is built into the device and that isto bend light from the scene to form an image on the sensor 164. Inconjunction with an imaging module 143 running in the device (alsoreferred to as a “camera module”), the sensor 164 may capture stillimages or video of the scene that is before the device 100.

The device 100 also includes one or more accelerometers 168. Theaccelerometer 168 is communicatively coupled to the peripheral interface118 and can be accessed by a module being executed by the processor 120.The accelerometer 168 provides information or data about the physicalorientation or position of the device, as well as rotation or movementof the device about an axis. This information may be used to detect thatthe device is, for example, in a vertical or portrait orientation (inthe event the device is rectangular shaped) or in a horizontal orlandscape orientation. On that basis, a graphics module 132 and/or atext input module 134 are able to display information “right side up” onthe touch screen 112, regardless of whether the device is in anyportrait or landscape orientation. The processing of the accelerometerdata may be performed by the operating system 126 and in particular adriver program that translates raw data from the accelerometer 168 intophysical orientation information that can be used by various othermodules of the device as described below. The operating system 126 maybe an embedded operating system such as Vx Works, OS X, or others whichmay also include software components and/or drivers for controlling andmanaging the various hardware components of the device, including memorymanagement, power management, sensor management, and also facilitatescommunication between various software components or modules.

The device 100 shown in FIG. 1 may also include a communication module128 that manages or facilitates communication with external devices overan external port 124. The external port 124 may include a universalserial bus port, a fire wire port, or other suitable technology, adaptedfor coupling directly to an external device. The external port 124 mayinclude a multi-pin (e.g., a 30 pin) connector and associated circuitrytypically used for docking the device 100 with a desktop personalcomputer.

Turning now to the modules in more detail, the contact/motion module 130may detect user initiated contact with the touch screen 112 (inconjunction with the display controller 156), and other touch sensitivedevices e.g., a touchpad or physical quick wheel. The contact/motionmodule 130 has various software components for performing operationssuch as determining if contact with the touch screen has occurred or hasbeen broken, and whether there is movement of the contact and trackingthe movement across the touch screen. Determining movement of the pointof contact may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity(magnitude and direction), and/or acceleration of the point of contact.These operations may be applied to single contacts (e.g., one fingercontacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g., multi-touch ormultiple finger contacts).

The graphics module 132 has various known software components forrendering and displaying graphics on the display of the touch screen 112including, for example, icons of user interface objects such as softkeys and a soft keyboard. The text input module 134, which may be acomponent of graphics module 132, provides soft keyboards for enteringtext in different languages. Such soft keyboards are for use by variousapplications e.g., the contacts module 137 (address book updating),email client module 140 (composing an email message), browsing module147 (typing in a web site universal resource locator), and a translationmodule 141 (for entering words or phrases to be translated).

The GPS module 135 determines the geographic location of the device andprovides this information for display or use by other applications, suchas by a the telephone module 138 for user in location-based dialing andapplications that provide location-based services, such as a weatherwidget, local Yellow Page widget, or map/navigation widgets (not shown).The widget modules 149 depicted here include a calculation widget whichdisplays a soft keypad of a calculator and enables calculator functions,an alarm clock widget, and a dictionary widget that is associated ortied to the particular human language set in the device 100.

Other modules that may be provided in the device 100 include a telephonemodule 138 that is responsible for managing the placement of outboundcalls and the receiving of inbound calls made over a wireless telephonenetwork, e.g. a cellular telecommunications network. A calendar module148 displays a calendar of events and lets the user define and manageevents in her calendar. A music player module 146 may manage thedownloading, over the Internet or from a local desktop personalcomputer, of digital media files, such as music and movie files, whichare then played back to the user through the audio circuitry 110 and thetouch sensitive display system 112.

It should be noted that each of the above-identified modules orapplications correspond to a set of instructions to be executed by amachine such as the processor 120, for performing one or more of thefunctions described above. These modules or instructions need not beimplemented as separate programs, but rather may be combined orotherwise rearranged in various combinations. For example, the textinput module 134 may be integrated with the graphics module 132.

In one embodiment, the device 100 is such that most of its functions areperformed exclusively through the touch screen 112 and/or a touchpad. Byusing the touch screen and/or touchpad as the primary input and outputcontrol device, the number of physical input and control devices, suchas push buttons, dials, and the like on the device may be reduced. Insome embodiments, the touchpad may be referred to as a “menu button”. Inother embodiments this menu button may include a physical push button orother physical motion input control device, instead of a touchpad. Thiscase is illustrated in the example of the device 100 shown in FIG. 2where a home button 204, when pressed by the user, causes the display toshow the main, home or root menu of the graphical user interface. Thisis depicted in FIG. 3 where the current time is displayed (image object404) together with several widgets (image objects 349_3, 349_4, and349_5) and icons for the phone, mail, browser, and music modules (imageobjects 338, 340, 347, and 346).

Referring back to FIG. 2, this top view of the example portablemultifunction device shows that its touch screen 112 is surrounded byvarious sensors and peripheral devices, including optical sensor 164,proximity sensor 166, accelerometer 168, speaker 111 and microphone 113.The speaker 111 may be a receiver (earpiece) that is positioned near thetop of the rectangular shaped device 100, while the microphone 113 isplaced near the bottom, thus facilitating use of the device 100 as aconventional telephony handset when making or receiving wirelesstelephone calls. The device in this case also has a separate push button206 for powering the device on and off and/or locking the device orplacing the device into a sleep mode, a volume adjustment button 208, asubscriber identity module (SIM) card slot 210, a headset jack 212, andan external port 124 for docking and/or charging of the device.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a top view of the device 100 is shown, in thesituation where the home button 204 has been actuated and the touchscreen 112 is displaying the graphical or image objects associated withthe home or root menu. The user interface processes running in thedevice 100, in example, produce the following image objects that aredisplayed: current e 404, battery status indicator 406, wirelesscommunications signal strength 402, and tray 408 containing icons forfrequently used applications, in this case being phone 338, mail 340which may include an indicator 410 of the number of unread emailmessages, browser 347, and music player 346. Higher up on the touchscreen 112 are the widgets for calculator 349_3, alarm clock 349_4, anddictionary 349_5. These are, of course, just an example of what can bedisplayed in the root menu of the device. In many cases, the user cancustomize the root menu to display those user interface objects that aremost frequently used. In this example, the user has chosen to alsodisplay an image object for the translation module 141 (labeled humanlanguage translator 341 in FIG. 3). Operation of the translation modulein different embodiments of the invention is now described in connectionwith FIG. 4 and the flow diagram of FIG. 6.

II. Translation Capabilities

Referring now to FIG. 4, two instances of the same device 100 are shown,in different physical orientations, in the first instance on the left,the device 100 in this case being rectangular) is held by its user (notshown) in a substantially vertical position, also referred to asportrait orientation, lion begins with the device 100 being in its homestate, depicting the home menu, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. Next,the user launches the translator application (included in translationmodule 141) by gesturing on image object 341 (block 602 in FIG. 6). Thisresults in the touch screen displaying the objects 404,408 and 406 asdepicted on the left hand side of FIG. 4.

Object 404 is a prompt box, dialog box or conversation bubble which,when gestured or selected, activates a cursor 405 and allows a firstuser to enter a word of phrase in a first human language. The firstlanguage may be the default or base language of the device 100 (e.g.,that was selected when the first user, as the owner of the device, firstpurchased the device). The first user then gestures letters andpunctuation in the first human language, using a first virtual keyboardthat is displayed as object 406 (block 604). In addition, there may alsobe a further object 408 that is a prompt box through which the userselects the target language into which the phrase shown in object 404will be translated. For example, a drop down list of different humanlanguages may appear when the object 408 is selected or gestured by theuser. In this example, the target language that has been selected isChinese (block 606).

The device 100, in particular, the translation module 41, may bedesigned with the capability of translating between several differenthuman languages. This translation capability may be entirely implementedwithin the device 100, as part of the translation module 104 which isexecuted by the processor 120. Such a local translation database (whichmay be a partial or basic one) may be automatically downloaded into thedevice 100, for example as part of a device software and firmwareinstallation or a routine update cycle. However, some or all of thelanguage translation capability may be implemented remotely, forexample, by a remote server. The device 100 would then access the serverover a local area network or a wide area network (e.g., the Internet),for a particular translation task. For instance, the translation module141 may seek assistance from the remote server when faced with unknownwords or phrases. In another embodiment, the entire word or phrase of aparticular translation task may be transmitted to the remote server,such that all of the translation function is performed remotely.Connections may be established with the server through a wirelesscommunications channel, such as one over a cellular network or awireless local area network.

Returning to the user process, once the word or phrase to be translatedhas been entered in the dialog box, the translation module may thenproceed with translating the word or phrase into the target languageselected by the user (block 608). The device 100 may prompt the user fora further input (e.g., a “Done” command box is selected or gestured bythe user) before translation can be completed. As alternative, thetranslation may not be completed until after and in response to thedevice 100 detecting that it has been rotated by at least apredetermined amount. In either case, the touch screen 112 does notdisplay the translated text until after the device detects that it hasbeen rotated by the predetermined amount, e.g. 180 degrees or turnedupside down within the plane of the touch screen 112 as shown (block610).

After performing the translation, the translated word or phrase may bedisplayed in the same or a similar dialog box 404. Thus, in this case,although the device 100 has been turned upside down, the dialog box 404displays the translated word or phrase right side up. The translationmodule 141 may in this case need to interact with the graphics module132 and the text input module 134, to ensure that the translated word orphrase is displayed right side up when the touch screen 112 has beenturned upside down.

Still referring to FIG. 4, when the device 100 has been rotated by thepredetermined amount such that the translation module will cause thetranslated word or phrase to be displayed right side up, a second softkeyboard that is associated with the second human language into whichthe word or phrase has been translated is also displayed on the touchscreen 112 (block 610). This soft keyboard may replace the originalkeyboard, in the user interface object 406.

At this point, the second user can read the word or phrase of the firstuser, and then respond by entering a word or phrase, using the secondsoft keyboard that is depicted by the image object 406 (block 612). Thisresponse may be entered in the same dialog box depicted by the imageobject 404, or it may be in a separate dialog box that contains only theinput from the second user. Also, in this two-way translation situation,there may be no need to prompt the second user to select a differenttarget language, because in a two-way translation the “target” languagefor the second user is in effect the original language used by the firstuser. Next, the second user turns the device back to its first positionor orientation, and the device completes translation of the word orphrase (entered using the second keyboard) into the first language(block 614). The translated word or phrase is then displayed, togetherwith the first keyboard, in the first orientation (block 616).

Thus, it can be seen that conversation between two users in differentlanguages can be facilitated using the positional feedback provided bythe device 100, where one user enters her message, rotates the deviceand hands the device over to the other use, and then the other userenters her own message and rotates the device back into the originalorientation and hands the device back to the first user.

Turning now to FIG. 5, this figure shows how the device 100 may bedesigned to allow a three-way conversation between three differentusers, in three different human languages. At the left side of FIG. 5the device 100 is shown in a vertical orientation (portrait view) wherean English speaking user has entered a question into the dialog box 404,using the English soft virtual keyboard depicted by image object 406 onthe touch screen. The user has selected Spanish to be the targetlanguage, as depicted by the image object 408. Next, the device 100 isrotated by 90 degrees in a clockwise direction in the plane of its touchscreen, resulting in a horizontal orientation (landscape view). This isdepicted by the instance of the device 100 in the middle portion of FIG.5. In this example, the English phrase “Where should we go for dinnertonight?” has been replaced in the dialog box by its Spanish translation“

Dónde debernos ir nosotros para cena esta noche?” Further, thehorizontal orientation has been detected by the device 100 (and inparticular by the translation module 141 processing data that is outputby the accelerometer 168, see FIG. 1) and thus the English keyboard hasbeen replaced within the image object 406 with a Spanish languagekeyboard. Also, given that this is a three-way conversation, the dialogbox represented by image object 408 which prompts the user to select atarget language may be retained, except that now the dialog box promptsthe user in Spanish. In this situation, the third user of the device 100is Chinese speaking, so that the second user who is using the device 100in its horizontal orientation selects “Chino” as the target language inthe dialog box represented by image object 408. Next, the second userrotates the device 100 another 90 degrees in a clockwise directionresulting in the vertical orientation show at the right side of FIG. 5,except that now device 100 is upside down relative to the originalorientation used by the English speaking user. Now, in this orientationor position used by the Chinese speaking user, the device has replacedthe Spanish phrase in the dialog box represented by image object 404,with its Chinese translation. In addition, the dialog box for the targetlanguage (image object 408) now prompts the user to select the targetlanguage, in Chinese. A response by the Chinese speaking user may now beentered into the device 100, using the Chinese soft keyboard depicted byimage object 406, which has replaced the Spanish soft keyboard. TheChinese speaking user then turns the device back to either the Englishor Spanish orientation, resulting in the translation of the Chinesephrase into English or Spanish, respectively.

In another embodiment, rather than provide the second and third usersthe option to select the target language, the translation module may bedesigned so that only the first user (or in this case the owner) of thedevice 100 may define what the target languages of the translationconversation are. Thus, the first user could select, for example,English to be the language in the vertical orientation, Spanish for thehorizontal orientation, and Chinese for the vertical but upside downorientation. Once set in this manner, there would be no need for anyindividual user to thereafter manually select the particular targetlanguage, as the translation module has stored the predeterminedassociation between the different orientations and their respectivelanguages. The device would thus automatically perform the correcttranslation of the phrase that has been entered in one orientation, intothe language of another next orientation. This means that users wouldsimply type in their response to a given statement that has beentranslated by the device, and then after deciding which language theywould like their response to be translated into, would rotate the deviceinto the respective orientation. For example, if the first user (owner)of the device 100 would like her English statement to be translated intoChinese, then, based on the association that has been previously storedor defined, she would rotate the device 180 degrees into the verticalbut upside down orientation. The device 100 would then automaticallydisplay the phrase translated into Chinese, in response to the devicetaking on the upside down vertical orientation. If the Chinese speakinguser would like to make her response or statement known to the Spanishspeaking user, she would enter the statement using the displayed Chinesekeyboard and then rotate the device into the horizontal orientation (andhand the device over to the Spanish speaking user). At that point, theSpanish speaking user may deride not to enter any further response orstatement, but could simply pass on the Chinese speaking user's messageto the English speaking user, by rotating the device back into itsoriginal vertical orientation and handing the device back to the Englishspeaking user. The device in that situation would detect the originalvertical orientation which is associated with the English language, andwould translate either a Spanish phrase or, if none was entered as inthis case, the previously entered Chinese phrase, into English.

As explained above, various embodiments of a mobile electronic devicethat have enhanced translation capability have been described in oneembodiment, the device has the following integrated hardware circuit andsoftware components for achieving such capability. First, there is ameans for displaying information right side up, while the device is in afirst physical orientation, and for displaying the same informationright side up in a different, second physical orientation. This mayinclude a graphical user interface using a touch screen and associateddisplay software that can display the same information right side up, ineach of two different physical orientations of the device. In otherwords, despite the different physical orientations, the same informationor the same type of information can be displayed right side up while thedevice is in each orientation. For example, as seen in FIG. 4, thecontents of the dialog box which is a word or phrase entered by a useris displayed right side up even though the device is in differentphysical orientations, respectively. The “information” in this case isthe same except that it is being represented in different written humanlanguages. To enable such a capability, the user interface may be viewedas including the graphics module 132 and text input module 134, storedin memory 102, to be executed by one of the processors 120. Thetranslation module 141 would cooperate with the graphics module 132 andthe text input module 134, to display the appropriate text in the dialogbox (represented by image object 404 in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5).

The device 100 also includes a means for receiving a word or phrase in afirst human language, from a user of the device while the device is inthe first physical orientation. In the above embodiment, the input wordor phrase is entered using a virtual (soft) keyboard that is displayedon the touch screen by the text input module 134. The particularlanguage of the keyboard may be selected by the translation module 141,whereas the actual details of displaying and receiving input from theselected keyboard may be governed by the graphics module 132 and thetext input module 134. The latter may also be responsible for providingthe dialog box into which the word or phrase is entered. Note that thismay be the same dialog box or same conversation bubble that displays aword or phrase from a previous user of the device (in a differentlanguage). As an alternative or in addition to using the soft keyboard(touch) input, there may be an audio module (not shown) in the memory102 that when executed by the processor 120 interfaces with themicrophone 113, to receive the input word or phrase from the user asaudible speech. In other words, the device 100 in this case records theuser speaking the word or phrase to be translated, rather than enteringit through the touch screen.

The device 100 also includes means for translating the word or phrasethat has been entered, into a second human language. This may beachieved by automatic translator software that is part of thetranslation module 141. The translator software may perform an internalor local lookup of a stored table of words and/or phrases in onelanguage, to yield their associated words and/or phrases in anotherlanguage. Alternatively, or in addition, the translator software couldsend some or all of the words or phrases to a remote server as explainedabove, to obtain the translation terms remotely.

The device 100 also includes means for displaying the translated word orphrase right side up, while the device is in the second physicalorientation. Here, the mechanism to do so would include the userinterface which may include aspects of the translation module 141detecting that the accelerometer 168 has in effect signaled a change inthe physical orientation of the device, into the second predeterminedphysical orientation. The accelerometer is an example of a means fordetecting this change in orientation. In response, the translationmodule would signal the graphics and text input modules 132, 134 tochange the virtual keyboard into the one associated with the secondphysical orientation, and display in a dialog box the translated word orphrase right side up (in view of the second physical orientation).

There are some subtleties to the manner in which the device transitionsbetween displaying a word or a phrase in one language and a translatedversion. In one case, the physical orientation of the device must changefirst, before the translated phrase is displayed. In other words, thedevice may continue to display in a “first language mode” until it hasbeen rotated around to the second, predetermined orientation. Only thenwill the display change to a “second language mode”. The device 100 inthat case would have a means for displaying the translated word orphrase, for example, in the landscape view, in response to the devicetaking on a horizontal orientation or position.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the device 100 has aRF-based locator that can compute the current geographic location of thedevice. The locator may use RF-based triangulation techniques or GPStechniques, to compute the current location. The current location isthen mapped to one or more human languages that are believed to bespoken in and around the area of the location. For example, if theuser/owner of the device travels with the device to Tibet, then theRF-based locator could automatically detect Tibet as the location. Apreviously stored look up table in the device 100 would have associatedTibet with both Mandarin and Tibetan languages. Thus, the device, and inparticular the translation module 141, would cause the user interface todisplay a graphic that prompts the user to select either one of Mandarinand Tibetan into which an entered word or phrase will be translated. Inother words, the possible target languages that are available fortranslation would be offered to the user automatically by the device, asa function of the computed current geographic location of the device.

In another embodiment, the device has a security function built-in thatprevents access to other applications, once the translator applicationhas been launched, unless a predetermined pass code is received from theuser or the user is otherwise again authenticated. That is because whenthe device is operating in one of its language translation modes, thedevice will be handed to at least one other person as part of theposition feedback translation processes described above. The securityfunction prevents another user from accessing any applications otherthan the translation application that is currently running.

In addition to a multiple user scenario as described above, the deviceand its positional feedback translation capability may also be usedsolely by its owner, to teach himself another language. The owner/singleuser could simply learn the words or phrases that have been translatedby the device, in response to that user rotating or moving the device ina manner that causes the translator to respond accordingly. As anotheralternative, the device may be used by its owner as a personaltranslator tool, to, for example, translate words and characters thatappear on signs or billboards while in a foreign country.

The above-described embodiments of the invention in connection withFIGS. 4-6 refer to the device being rotated or turned by its user whenseeking to switch the device between different language translationmodes of operation. In another embodiment, switching between thesedifferent language translation modes occurs not in response to a purerotation or turning movement about a pivot point, but rather in responseto a translation movement of die device. In that case, the device neednot be rotated or turned about any axis, but rather may simply be tappedby its user to cause a rapid translational movement of the device whichmay also be detectible by the built-in accelerometer.

An embodiment of the invention may be a machine-readable medium havingstored thereon instructions which program a processor to perform some ofthe operations described above. In other embodiments, some of theseoperations might be performed by specific hardware components thatcontain hardwired logic. Those operations might alternatively beperformed by any combination of programmed computer components andcustom hardware components.

A machine-readable medium may include arty mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputer), not limited to Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROMs),Read-Only Memory (ROMs), Random Access Memory (RAM), and ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EPROM).

The invention is not limited to the specific embodiments describedabove. For example, although an accelerometer has been described aboveas the means for detecting a change in the physical orientation orposition of the device (that may have been brought about by the user,for example, rotating or turning or tapping the device), other means fordetecting movement or changes in the position of the device mayalternatively be used. Although the examples depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5take advantage of the rectangular shape of the example device 100, inthat the predetermined orientations of the device are vertical,horizontal, and upside clown vertical, orientations that are differentfrom each other by other than 90 degrees may also be feasible dependingupon the external shape or peripheral shape of the device 100. Otherdistinct, predetermined orientations that can be comfortably associatedwith the shape of the device are possible, e.g. a triangular devicecould have three distinct orientations each corresponding to a differentside of the device being held horizontal by a user. Accordingly, otherembodiments are within the scope of the claims.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. An electronic device comprising: a touch sensitivescreen; a detection component configured to detect a change in physicalorientation of the electronic device; and a translator applicationconfigured to: in response to the detection component detecting a changein the physical orientation of the electronic device from a firstorientation to a second orientation: cause translation of a first textof a first language, entered via a first virtual keyboard on the touchsensitive screen, to a first translated text of a second language, thefirst virtual keyboard comprising characters of the first language; andcause display, on the touch sensitive screen, of the first translatedtext and a second virtual keyboard, the second virtual keyboardcomprising characters of the second language; and in response to thedetection component detecting a change in the physical orientation ofthe electronic device from the second orientation back to the firstorientation: cause translation of a second text of the second language,entered via the second virtual keyboard on the touch sensitive screen,to a second translated text of the first language, and cause display, onthe touch sensitive screen, of the second translated text and the firstvirtual keyboard.
 20. The device of claim 19, wherein the second virtualkeyboard replaces the first virtual keyboard.
 21. The device of claim19, wherein the touch sensitive screen is rectangular.
 22. The device ofclaim 19, wherein: detecting a change in the physical orientation of theelectronic device from the first orientation to the second orientationcomprises detecting a rotation of the electronic device from the firstorientation to the second orientation, wherein the first translated textand the second virtual keyboard are displayed right side up in alandscape view while the electronic device is in the second orientation,and detecting a change in the physical orientation of the electronicfrom the second orientation back to the first orientation comprisesdetecting a rotation of the electronic device from the secondorientation to the first orientation, wherein the second translated textand the first virtual keyboard are displayed right side up in portraitview while the electronic device is in the first orientation, and thefirst orientation is a vertical orientation and the second orientationis a horizontal orientation.
 23. The device of claim 22, wherein therotation of the electronic device from the first orientation to thesecond orientation comprises a rotation by about ninety degrees in theplane of the touch sensitive screen to obtain the second orientation.24. The device of claim 22, wherein the rotation of the electronicdevice from the first orientation to the second orientation comprises arotation by about one hundred and eighty degrees in the plane of thetouch sensitive screen to obtain the second orientation.
 25. The deviceof claim 19, further comprising a location detector configured todetermine a geographic location of the electronic device, wherein inresponse to the location detector determining the geographic location,the translator application is configured to cause display of a graphicthat prompts a user of the electronic device to select any one of aplurality of languages to which the first text can be translated,wherein the plurality of languages are based on the determinedgeographic location of the electronic device.
 26. The device of claim25, wherein the translator application is configured to cause display ofthe graphic in response to detecting the change in the physicalorientation of the electronic device from the first orientation to thesecond orientation.
 27. The device of claim 19, wherein the electronicdevice is configured to prevent access to other applications until userauthentication is received.
 28. The device of claim 19, wherein thefirst orientation of the device is associated with the first languageand the second orientation of the device is associated with the secondlanguage.
 29. A method for translating text on an electronic device,comprising: at the electronic device having a touch sensitive screen:receiving a first text of a first language entered via a first virtualkeyboard on the touch sensitive screen, the first virtual keyboardcomprising characters of the first language; in response to detecting achange in physical orientation of the electronic device from a firstorientation to a second orientation: causing translation of the firsttext to a first translated text of a second language, and displaying, onthe touch sensitive screen, the first translated text and a secondvirtual keyboard comprising characters of the second language; receivinga second text of the second language entered via the second virtualkeyboard on the touch sensitive screen; and in response to detecting achange in the physical orientation of the electronic device from thesecond orientation back to the first orientation: causing translation ofthe second text to a second translated text of the first language, anddisplaying, on the touch sensitive screen, the second translated textand the first virtual keyboard.
 30. The method of claim 29, whereindisplaying the first translated text replaces the first text, anddisplaying the second virtual keyboard replaces the first virtualkeyboard.
 31. The method of claim 29, wherein: detecting the change inthe physical orientation of the electronic device from the firstorientation to the second orientation comprises detecting a rotation ofthe electronic device from the first orientation to the secondorientation, wherein the first translated text and the second virtualkeyboard are displayed right side up in a landscape view while theelectronic device is in the second orientation, and detecting the changein the physical orientation of the electronic device from the secondorientation back to the first orientation comprises detecting a rotationof the electronic device from the second orientation to the firstorientation, wherein the second translated text and the second virtualkeyboard are displayed right side up in portrait view while theelectronic device is in the first orientation, and the first orientationis a vertical orientation and the second orientation is a horizontalorientation.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the rotation of theelectronic device from the first orientation to the second orientationcomprises a rotation by about ninety degrees in the plane of the touchsensitive screen to obtain the second orientation.
 33. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the rotation of the electronic device from the firstorientation to the second orientation comprises a rotation by about onehundred and eighty degrees in the plane of the touch sensitive screen toobtain the second orientation.
 34. The method of claim 29, furthercomprising displaying a prompt for a user of the electronic device toenter the first text in the first language.
 35. The method of claim 29,further comprising displaying a conversation dialog box in which thesecond text being entered by a user is simultaneously displayed with thefirst text.
 36. The method of claim 29, further comprising: determininga geographic location associated with the electronic device; andprompting a user to select any one of a plurality of languages to whichthe first text is to be translated, wherein the plurality of languagesare based on the determined geographic location.
 37. The method of claim29, further comprising: launching a translation application on theelectronic device to cause the translation of the first text and thedisplay of the first translated text; and preventing access to otherapplications on the electronic device until a user is authenticated. 38.The method of claim 29, further comprising: in response to detecting thechange in the physical orientation of the electronic device from thefirst orientation to the second orientation, displaying a prompt for auser to select any one of a plurality of languages to which the firsttext is to be translated.
 39. The method of claim 29, wherein the firsttext is entered by a first user and the second text is entered by asecond user.
 40. An electronic device comprising: a touch sensitivescreen; one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programsconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or moreprograms including instructions for: receiving a first text of a firstlanguage entered via a first virtual keyboard on the touch sensitivescreen, the first virtual keyboard comprising characters of the firstlanguage; in response to detecting a change in physical orientation ofthe electronic device from a first orientation to a second orientation:causing translation of the first text to a first translated text of asecond language, and displaying, on the touch sensitive screen, thefirst translated text and a second virtual keyboard comprisingcharacters of the second language; receiving a second text of the secondlanguage entered via the second virtual keyboard on the touch sensitivescreen; and in response to detecting a change in the physicalorientation of the electronic device from the second orientation back tothe first orientation: causing translation of the second text to asecond translated text of the first language, and displaying, on thetouch sensitive screen, the second translated text and the first virtualkeyboard.
 41. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storingone or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions,which when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device,cause the electronic device to: receive a first text of a first languageentered via a first virtual keyboard on a touch sensitive screen, thefirst virtual keyboard comprising characters of the first language; inresponse to detecting a change in physical orientation of the electronicdevice from a first orientation to a second orientation: causetranslation of the first text to a first translated text of a secondlanguage, and display, on the touch sensitive screen, the firsttranslated text and a second virtual keyboard comprising characters ofthe second language; receive a second text of the second languageentered via the second virtual keyboard on a touch sensitive screen; andin response to detecting a change in the physical orientation of theelectronic device from the second orientation back to the firstorientation: cause translation of the second text to a second translatedtext of the first language, and display, on the touch sensitive screen,the second translated text and the first virtual keyboard.
 42. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 41, whereindisplaying the first translated text replaces the first text, anddisplaying the second virtual keyboard replaces the first virtualkeyboard.
 43. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 41, wherein: detecting the change in the physical orientation ofthe electronic device from the first orientation to the secondorientation comprises detecting a rotation of the electronic device fromthe first orientation to the second orientation, wherein the firsttranslated text and the second virtual keyboard are displayed right sideup in a landscape view while the electronic device is in the secondorientation, and detecting the change in the physical orientation of theelectronic device from the second orientation back to the firstorientation comprises detecting a rotation of the electronic device fromthe second orientation to the first orientation, wherein the secondtranslated text and the second virtual keyboard are displayed right sideup in portrait view while the electronic device is in the firstorientation, and the first orientation is a vertical orientation and thesecond orientation is a horizontal orientation.
 44. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 43, wherein the change inphysical orientation of the electronic device from the first orientationto the second orientation is a rotation by about ninety degrees in theplane of the touch sensitive screen to obtain the second orientation.45. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 43,wherein the change in physical orientation of the electronic device fromthe first orientation to the second orientation is a rotation by aboutone hundred and eighty degrees in the plane of the touch sensitivescreen to obtain the second orientation.
 46. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 41 further comprisinginstructions to: cause a determination of a geographic location of theelectronic device; and in response to the determination of thegeographic location, prompt a user to select any one of a plurality oflanguages to which the first text is to be translated, wherein theplurality of languages are based on the determined geographic location.47. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 41,further comprising instructions to, in response to detecting the changein the physical orientation of the electronic device from the firstorientation to the second orientation, prompt a user to select any oneof a plurality of languages to which the first text is to be translated.48. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 41,further comprising instructions to prompt a user of the electronicdevice to enter the first text in the first language.
 49. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 41, furthercomprising instructions to cause display of a conversation dialog box inwhich the second text being entered by a user is simultaneouslydisplayed with the first text.
 50. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 41, wherein the first text is entered by a firstuser and the second text is entered by a second user.
 51. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 41, furthercomprising instructions to prevent access to other applications until auser is authenticated.